


Intertwined

by Cartoonygirl



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Some Fluff, To varying degrees of success, a bit - Freeform, attempted drama, everyone is ooc, shows up to the fandom 8 years late, they keep trying to kill each other, toothless escapes and Hiccup is a dragon hunter now, watch as i ignore all canon for plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-26 13:12:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13858464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cartoonygirl/pseuds/Cartoonygirl
Summary: The bola had been snapped.Maybe by the landing, maybe the dragon had struggled enough, maybe it caught a tree branch.One thing was for certain- the night fury was gone.





	1. The Hunt

The bola had been snapped. 

Maybe by the landing, maybe the dragon had struggled enough, maybe it caught a tree branch. 

One thing was for certain- the night fury was gone. 

* * *

Hiccup Haddock, age 17, was the best dragon hunter on Berk. It was a known fact by all who lived there. 

No, he never killed a dragon. He fainted at the sight of blood. 

So Hiccup simply captured the dragons. He led them to their cages. 

And somebody else would soon slaughter it. 

Hiccup had grown numb to these executions. He’d been numb to them for a while. They were always the same- a loud, final cry of the dragon. 

Then there would be silence. 

Hiccup didn't like to think about it too much. He would be chief at some point, his father had told him so. If he would be chief, he’d have to be numb. It was better for everyone that way. 

But the every cry seemed to tug at his heart, like another person deep inside was trying to get through.

Hiccup pushed them down. 

They were interfering with his mission. 

Hiccup had heard good intel that the night fury had landed in the forest. He was determined to find it. 

His crossbow was out, pointing in front of him. He turned it as he searched the forest for the telltale signs of a dragon. 

The ground was singed. And it was still smoking. 

Hiccup smiled. The dragon was close. 

Pushing aside a branch, Hiccup followed the trail of burnt grass deeper into the trees. 

He froze. 

The night fury was right in front of him, scouring for food. Hiccup ducked behind a rock, nocking an arrow into the crossbow. 

He rose, pointing over the rock- and found himself face to face with the night fury. 

Hiccup gasped. He stumbled backwards. His leg caught a root and he fell, crossbow firing into the air. He cursed the prosthetic- it had been a year, and he still wasn’t used to it. 

The night fury stared Hiccup down, growling. Hiccup quickly shifted the crossbow back into a shield and held it at the ready.

”Hey there, dragon,” He said, trying to carefully aim the shot. He only had one bola loaded into the shield. 

It was now or never. 

He fired the bola. 

The night fury jumped. The bola wrapped itself around a nearby tree, before falling rather sadly to the ground. Hiccup cringed. 

“Oh, gods.” 

Hiccup pushed himself to his feet, protecting himself with his shield. The night fury fired, and Hiccup blocked it. He felt the heat of the fire beside him, and prayed that the shield could handle the heat.

He took off at a sprint through the forest. Branches scratched at his face, and he stumbled over rocks, and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. 

Suddenly, he was out of the forest and out of breath. 

He slowly slid to the ground, laying on his back, and sighed. 

“If you keep getting scared off,” He chided himself, “you’ll never catch that night fury.”


	2. Losing

“What _happened_ to you?” Astrid asked as Hiccup stumbled back into the great hall. 

“Another hunt gone awry,” Hiccup sighed, sliding into a seat next to Astrid. He rubbed absentmindedly at the scratches on his face. 

“That’s three this month,” Snotlout commented, pushing a candlestick to the center of the table. “I think Hiccup here is losing his touch.”

”I am not!” Hiccup cried defensively, tossing his arms into the air. 

“I don’t know... it does sound a little bit like you are,” Fishlegs said, setting a plate down and taking a seat at the table. 

“You’re taking _Snotlout’s_ side?” Hiccup exclaimed. 

“Poor Hiccup. No friends left,” Tuffnut said, pointing dramatically with a chicken leg. 

“Yeah. Now he just has... not friends,” Ruffnut added. She and Tuffnut high-fived, as though it were a sick burn. 

Hiccup rolled his eyes. 

“I’m not losing my touch. I’m just... I’m...” Hiccup was at a loss for words. 

“And he can’t even accept it,” Snotlout laughed. 

“Come on, guys,” Hiccup said, gesturing desperately. “Astrid, back me up here.”

”Well...”

”You too?” Hiccup shouted. A couple of nearby Vikings shushed him. Hiccup took a deep breath. "Look, it's just the night fury, okay? And this damn leg-"

"The leg excuse. A classic," Snotlout interrupted. Hiccup glared at him.

"I'm close! Really!" Hiccup said. The others looked around awkwardly. Fishlegs coughed.

Hiccup stared at them. A realization occurred.

"You guys don't think I can do it, do you?" He whispered.

"It's not that we think you can't. We think it's that you need some... time. A break," Astrid said, putting her hand over Hiccup's.

"I can't take a break. Not now," Hiccup said. "I'm too  _close_."

The others looked at him, all with different expressions. Fishlegs seemed concerned, as did Astrid. Snotlout seemed annoyed. And the twins... seemed to be planning something.

"Astrid. Astrid, can we do the thing now?" Ruffnut asked, leaning over to Astrid.

"I already said no," Astrid grumbled.

"Please?" Tuffnut begged.

"What  _thing_?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid turned back to face Hiccup. "Nothing-" 

"They want to lock you in your house so you relax," Snotlout interrupted again. Astrid slapped his arm, annoyed.

"I said not to tell him!"

"Well, you know I'm not about to listen to you! Who died and put you in charge?"

"Stoick!"

"He isn't dead!"

"But he-"

"ENOUGH!" Hiccup cried, throwing his arms in the air. "All you ever do is fight!" He stood up from the table and stared each teenage in the eye. "I'm going back to find that night fury. And I'm _not_ coming back unless I catch it."

With that, Hiccup stormed out, five worried faces watching him go.


	3. Forest Fire

Hiccup had learned to track where he was by the stars and the constellations in the sky. Not that it really worked with all the trees blocking the sky. Which is how Hiccup found himself stuck at the top of a tree, with a very angry monstrous nightmare circling beneath the branches.

"Nice dragon..." Hiccup said, slowly lowering himself down a branch. "Easy..."

His leg slipped, and he yelped. The monstrous nightmare, shocked by the sudden movement, lit up.

"Oh, that's what I was afraid of," Hiccup said as the tree caught on fire. He grabbed a nearby branch and changed trees, then began to climb down. That tree caught on fire, and so did the next one, and the next, and so on. Hiccup changed from tree to tree, avoiding the flames as much as possible. The air was thick with smoke, and Hiccup coughed.

He finally made it to a tree that was still unburnt. But the lowest branch was a good 5 feet up.

"Just my luck," Hiccup sighed. Then he jumped, landing hard on his good leg and crumpling to the ground. He cursed loudly. Standing, he started limping forwards, when he stopped.

He heard an all too familiar cry.

The night fury was there. It appeared through the smoke, hazy, and for a second Hiccup was unsure if it was real or not. But then it was in front of him.

And it was much too real.

* * *

 

Back on Berk, Astrid had been studying the forest for hours in the watchtower. Just in case Hiccup did something stupid, as usual.

She saw the smoke before the fire, and soon she was out of the watchtower and going to the forest, running as fast as her legs could take her, until she'd reached the trees.

"HICCUP! YOU BETTER NOT BE DEAD!" She yelled. Then she rushed into the fire.

* * *

 

"You again," Hiccup choked out. His throat was sore, and his eyes were watering, and his leg was hurting, and now there was a night fury that wanted to kill him right there.

Hiccup took out his shield, now loaded with two bolas. Not that he thought it would help. But it settled his nerves.

"Just stay right there..." He fired the first bola. It missed. "No!" The night fury started advancing, as Hiccup started to back away.

Hiccup aimed the second bola. Very carefully...

"HICCUP!" Hiccup and the night fury jumped. Hiccup fired, missing again.

"Astrid?" 

"You set... the whole forest... on _fire_!" Astrid screamed, out of breath. Hiccup took a step away from her. Even the night fury seemed scared. "The fire guard... is coming."

"Oh, gods, why?" Hiccup asked. The fire guard consisted of Astrid, Hiccup, and the other four teenagers.

"BECAUSE THE FOREST IS ON FIRE!" Astrid coughed. "Let's get out of here."

"No, no, I can't, I have to..." Hiccup had turned around, only to find that the night fury had disappeared back into the smoke. He gaped.

"Come  _on_ , Hiccup!" Astrid grabbed him by the arm and pulled. Hiccup stumbled to the ground.

"I... uh... kind of hurt my good leg?" Hiccup said, pushing himself off the ground. Astrid groaned.

"Hiccup!" She handed him a tall branch off the ground. "Use this, then."

Hiccup took the branch and used it as a walking stick. He and Astrid were halfway out of the forest when the fire guard showed up, dousing the flames with water. The fire was gone in a matter of minutes.

"Your dad is going to be so pissed," Snotlout laughed.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied. "I know."


	4. Advice

“HICCUP!” 

Hiccup cringed. His father was approaching. 

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Stoick yelled, staring down disapprovingly at Hiccup, who was sitting on his bed tending to his wounds. “You are not to hunt at night!”

”I know, dad, but there was the night fury and- and everyone was...” Hiccup saw his dad’s looming glare and looked down at his feet, dangling over the edge of the bed. “Sorry, dad.”

Stoick sighed and sat down next to Hiccup on the bed. 

“Son,” He began. “I just don’t want to lose you like I lost your mother.”

Hiccup quieted. His dad never talked about his mom, only enough to satisfy Hiccup’s curiosity. The only problem was that Hiccup’s curiosity was never satisfied. 

“What happened to mom?” Hiccup asked. Stoick was silent for a second, thinking. He took a shaky breath.

“Dragons,” Was all he said. “Dragons.”

Hiccup didn’t bother to question further. He knew that was all he would get. 

 

* * *

“You’re not seriously going out hunting again.”

Hiccup jumped. He’d snuck out of the house very early that morning- so early that the sun was barely up yet. But of course, Astrid was one step ahead of him. She always was.

”Hunting? Me? Nooooo...” Hiccup said, trying and failing to hide his shield behind his back.

Astrid rolled her eyes. 

“Hiccup, you’re still all scraped up from last night’s encounter. Did you even get _any_ sleep?” She asked, crossing her arms. 

“Yes?” Hiccup lied. He hadn’t really been able to sleep. He was planning his big escape.

“No,” Astrid said firmly, seeing through his lie easily. “Go back inside.” She tried to grab the shield out of Hiccup's hands. He dodged, holding the shield in the air where she couldn't reach it.

”Astrid, please! I have to find that night fury-“

”Hiccup!” Astrid yelled, stopping Hiccup. “You are _obsessed_ with finding this dragon. And look where it’s gotten you.”

Hiccup’s face hardened into a glare. 

“You can’t stop me, Astrid,” He said, lowering his arm. “I’m going hunting.”

”Then I’m coming with you.” Astrid's voice was determined. She wasn't backing down now.

”No, you’re not.”

”I’ll tell Stoick if you don’t let me come.”

"I- Uh- Ugh." Hiccup was at a loss there. His father would be even more upset if he found out that Hiccup had snuck out... "Fine,” Hiccup sighed, starting his walk towards the forest. “You can come.”

”Thank you,” Astrid said curtly, following him. “Let’s go find that night fury. Once and for all.”


	5. Trapped

Astrid followed Hiccup into the forest. Both had their weapons at the ready, their senses on high alert. 

Astrid wasn’t a hunter. Not usually. She often was a killer. It was just her style. She didn’t love the job, but if she didn’t do it, it seemed like the world would stop spinning. So she killed dragons, and she didn’t complain. 

Hiccup stopped and held up his hand. Astrid froze. 

“I hear him,” Hiccup whispered, gesturing for Astrid to get down. He aimed his shield, ready to fire a bola.

The forest seemed to be alive and anticipating with them. 

Hiccup aimed for a spot in the bushes. 

Astrid held her breath. 

The night fury appeared. 

Hiccup fired. 

With a loud, painful roar, the dragon fell, writhing on the ground. Hiccup lowered his shield and stared in wonder. 

“I got him,” He whispered. “I got him!”

Astrid came out of her hiding spot, watching Hiccup with a quiet confusion. She thought he’d be more excited. But he just seemed sad. 

“You really got him,” Astrid said, standing next to Hiccup as he watched the dragon struggle. 

“We should bring him back. To Berk,” Hiccup said. 

“How?” Astrid asked. 

“Usually there’s a cart or something. I don’t usually hunt in the forest. Early in the morning,” Hiccup explained. 

“Well, you stay here and watch him. I’ll go grab a cart or something.” Astrid smiled at Hiccup. He didn’t return it. “Hiccup?”

”Yeah,” Hiccup said, still in a trance. His eyes hadn’t left the dragon. “Go. I’ll be here.”

Astrid lingered a second. 

“Okay,” She said. Then she left the forest to grab a cart. 

* * *

 

“We didn’t think you had it in you!”

”Incredible work.”

”You took him down!” 

Townspeople crowded and congratulated Hiccup as he returned, night fury in tow. But they got no replies, none of Hiccup’s usual witty and humble answers. Instead, he was silent and seemed to be deep in thought. 

“Alright, move along!” Stoick called, pushing people aside. “Why don’t you take the dragon to the kill ring cages? We’ll make a big celebration of his killing tomorrow,” He said to Hiccup. 

“Alright,” Hiccup said quietly. “I’ll take him there now.”

 

* * *

Hiccup placed the dragon in the cage. It growled at him, and Hiccup sighed. 

“I’ll be back tonight,” Hiccup whispered, so only the dragon could hear. “This was a mistake. And I’m going to fix it.”


	6. Traitor

Nobody else was awake when Hiccup returned to the kill ring cages.

Or so he thought.

Hiccup leaned down to the keyhole of the night fury's cage and twisted the key into it. Slowly and quietly, he pulled it open and stepped inside.

The night fury woke from its sleep and growled at Hiccup, defensively backing away. Hiccup held out his hands in a peace gesture, hoping to calm the dragon down. 

"Hey," He whispered. "I messed up. And I'm here to put things right." Hiccup gestured to the open door, keeping his eyes locked onto the dragon's. "Go out that door and fly away. Quietly."

The night fury looked down at its tail. A fin was missing, torn off from Hiccup's first forest attack.

"Yeah, I thought of that too," Hiccup said. He leaned down and pulled a prosthetic out of his bag. "It's not my best handiwork, but it should get the job done."

Hiccup slowly approached the night fury. It watched him closely, but finally, it swung its tail forwards to Hiccup. Hiccup attached the new tail.

"There. Now go. They'll notice you're gone at sunrise, you have to get as far away as fast as possible." The night fury looked at Hiccup and tilted its head. Hiccup got the message.

What about you?

"I'll be fine. Go!" Hiccup whispered.

The dragon slipped towards the open door. With a final look back at Hiccup, it spread its wings and took off into the night. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief.

But the feeling was fleeting.

"Traitor!" Hiccup turned. 

Snotlout had seen the whole thing. 

"Snotlout, please, you can't tell any-"

"I can tell whoever I want!"

"What's going on out here?"

A small crowd was beginning to gather. And all of them could see, from outside the kill ring, into the cages. Hiccup stood in the empty night fury cage, the key in his hand. 

Guilty as charged.

"Betrayer!"

"How could you?"

"The son of the chief-"

"-I trusted-"

"-Knew this whole time-"

"Hiccup!" Hiccup looked to the voice calling his name. 

"Astrid!" He exclaimed. 

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I-"

"HICCUP!" 

All voices quieted. Hiccup looked to the source.

His father was approaching the scene.

"Dad. Dad, it isn't- Let me explain-" Hiccup stumbled and grasped at words, trying desperately to form a cohesive sentence that could somehow fix this.

"Son," Stoick said. "How could you?" The expression on his face made Hiccup want to cry.

Hiccup felt a sharp poke at his neck. A dart, he assumed. He knew what happened when you got hit by a dart...

"I'm sorry," He whispered. Then everything was dark.

* * *

 

Hiccup woke up on a boat. There were a few problems with that. First, he hadn't been knocked out on a boat. Second and more pressingly, nobody was steering the boat. 

Hiccup looked around. Nothing but sea for miles. What happened had finally sunk in.

He had been exiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so I promise I don't think Snotlout's evil it's just that he's the only one who'd do that kind of asshole-ish shit


	7. Two Boats

Astrid knew that what she was doing was likely going to get her killed. But she also knew, somewhere deep inside, that she had to do it. 

_"You can't do this," She begged. "He's your son."_

_"He's no son of mine," Stoick said firmly. "Not anymore." He turned to a nearby group. "Ready the ship."_

She was stealing a boat, loaded with supplies, and she was taking it out to sea now. To find Hiccup.

_"Where do they send the boats?" Astrid interrogated Fishlegs. "Somewhere specific? Another island?" Fishlegs shied away. Astrid moved in, threatening him without words._

_"No," Fishlegs whimpered. "They just let them go."_

However hard that task may be.

* * *

Hiccup didn't know where in the archipelago he was. There was no land in sight. Just water. And more water. And then some more water, just for kicks.

The ship was not made for someone to survive on. It was a simple boat, empty of all supplies. No one who was exiled was given supplies. Why would they?

More importantly, no one who was exiled had ever survived. But Hiccup really didn't want to dwell on that right now. Now he had to find land, and hopefully, not die. But that was going to be difficult.

Because now he could see something brewing on the horizon.

A storm was coming.

* * *

 

Astrid consulted her map, then her compass, and then her view. Nothing was really helping he get to Hiccup, but she liked the comfort of think it was. So she checked everything like she knew where she was going.

On the horizon, she could see a storm. But thanks to a discovery by Hiccup, she knew that lightning wouldn't hit her boat. Her boat was wood. Lightning was attracted to metal.

Metal.

Oh, gods.

Hiccup had a metal leg.

* * *

 

"Metal, of course," Hiccup said, detaching his leg as though it were nothing.

His plan was to throw it overboard, but he stopped. This was his only leg. Without it, he was even more helpless than he already was. And he was already pretty helpless.

So he settled for throwing it across the deck, as far away as possible. He climbed up on the mast for good measure.

The storm grew closer.

* * *

 

Astrid cursed, rolling up the sails and getting away from as much metal as possible. She went belowdecks, hiding out in the supply room and praying.

From there, all she could do was wait for the storm to pass.

* * *

 

The lightning grew closer as Hiccup watched, morbidly fascinated by the shapes it made in the air. He could study them better the closer the storm was, and he decided to focus only on the design of the lightning and not its more murderous qualities. It was easier that way.

Lightning flashed again, so close Hiccup could feel it on his skin. He almost let go of the mast to cover his ears, and the fear of almost letting go made him clutch it tighter, as though it were somehow going to protect him.  _This will all be over soon_ , He thought.  _This will all be over soon._

A minute passed without lightning. Then another.

Hiccup exhaled. The storm had passed.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the sea around him.

Lightning had struck the ship. 

Hiccup heard a crack and looked down. 

The mast was breaking. 

"No, no!" Hiccup cried. He let go of the mast and jumped back onto the deck. With a loud splash, the mast landed in the water, knocking the boat into a spin. Hiccup grabbed his leg, laying nearby, and reattached it.

He rushed to the higher side of the ship, as the other was rapidly filling with water and sinking. 

"Only one way off the boat now," Hiccup said, glancing at the churning waters below. It wasn't the best option, definitely, but he was going to end up in the water anyways.

Hiccup took a deep breath.

Then he jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how viking ships work, so if this is inaccurate... sorry.


	8. Dragon's Island

Hiccup didn't even realize he had been knocked out again until he woke up somewhere that wasn't the ocean. For a split second, he believed that he had made it home.

Quickly he realized this was not the case. 

The night fury had appeared from a cave nearby. Hiccup was sitting on a pile of rocks, nowhere near the shore. He looked at the night fury, confused.

"Did you... save me?" He asked. The night fury blinked at him once. Somehow, Hiccup understood that as a yes. He stared deeply into the dragon's eyes.

"Why?" He whispered, half to the night fury and half to himself. The dragon flicked its tail into Hiccup's face, showing off the prototype tail fin prosthetic. Hiccup only frowned. "But I'm the one who captured you. And hunted you for two years. Why would you still help me?" Hiccup looked down at the ground, feeling only guilt and shame. "What did I do to deserve it?"

The dragon looked at him. Hiccup looked up at it. They locked eyes for what seemed like forever, at least to Hiccup. Finally, Hiccup seemed to understand the message.

"I guess we both regret the last two years, huh?" He asked. The night fury growled gently. Hiccup noticed it had no teeth. "Toothless," He mumbled. "Not a bad name."

The night fury, now named Toothless, opened its mouth. Teeth emerged, and Hiccup jumped back.

"Whoa," He said, studying Toothless. Then, Hiccup slowly reached out his hand towards Toothless's head. Toothless hesitated- then leaned forward. Hiccup felt the rough scales of the dragon on his hand. "I'm really, really, sorry," Hiccup whispered. He wrapped his arms around Toothless's neck.

"Thank you."

* * *

 

The storm had passed. Astrid unfurled the sails and kept going, hopefully where Hiccup was going. It was a long journey, and now, three days after the storm, she was beginning to lose hope.

Her thoughts darkened.  _He could already be dead._

She shook her head, banishing the thoughts from her mind.  _He'll be fine. He's Hiccup_ , she chided herself.

But then her ship hit something that was most definitely not a rock.

She looked over the edge of the boat.

The wreckage of a ship, Hiccup's ship, stared back at her.

For the first time in a while, Astrid wanted to cry.

* * *

 

Hiccup counted three days spent on the island.

Three days spent alone.

No, Hiccup decided. He wasn't alone. He had Toothless now. In three days, they had become close, as though they weren't trying to kill each other just a week ago.

Had it really only been a week? Hiccup felt like a totally different person now. 

_The second day on the island, Hiccup finally encountered another dragon. A nadder._

_Toothless stared Hiccup down, his face giving way to the worry inside of him._

_"I won't hurt it," Hiccup said, looking from the new dragon to Toothless. Hands shaking, Hiccup crossed his heart. "I swear. I'll never hurt another dragon." Hiccup paused. "As long as you promise to never hurt another human," he amended._

_Toothless tilted his head to the left, thinking. Finally, he blinked slowly at Hiccup._

_It was a deal_.

But after three days, Hiccup was ready to leave the island. He'd been working with the materials available on the island, and he'd developed a system to let him control Toothless's tail- before, his flight had been looping and sloppy. 

"Ready to test it out?" Hiccup asked Toothless, sitting on the saddle, as they waited on the edge of the cliff.

Toothless growled his approval.

* * *

 

As Astrid mourned, she watched an island coming up in the distance. 

She saw a dragon take off, a night fury. On its back was a human figure. Its tail was an unmistakable red.

Through her tears, Astrid smiled.


End file.
